Game 2: Providence 4, WBS 2

May 11th, 2013

After a quick review, the official scorers took an assist away from Chris Bourque and gave it to Torey Krug on Providence’s third goal tonight. That was about the only way to keep Bourque off the scoresheet in the first period. No one wearing a WBS Penguins sweater was able to do so.

The Providence Bruins’ high-octane forwards slung the puck around again for the second straight night, scoring four first-period goals and beating the Penguins 4-2 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Game 3 is Wednesday night at home.

The Penguins were called for four straight minors in the first period. Warren Peters scored shorthanded on the first one, banking a shot in off shaky Providence goalie Niklas Svedberg at 4:40 to make it 1-0, but it was all Providence from there.

Jamie Tardif stuffed one in from in front on a 5-on-3 power play at 5:48. Bourque made a long, cross-crease pass to set up Ryan Spooner for a shot into an essentially empty net at 11:24. Tardif banged in a shot at the left post on the power play at 17:25. Bourque redirected in a Tommy Cross shot from the right half-wall with 28.3 seconds left.

Coach John Hynes called the first period a “power play-penalty kill scrimmage in the first period of a playoff game” and he wasn’t wrong, but staying out of the box only goes so far. The Penguins have to figure out a way to slow down Providence’s forwards at even strength.

Maybe they did in the final two periods tonight. They did outscore the P-Bruins 1-0 the rest of the way on a second-period Brian Gibbons power-play goal.

Peters said the Penguins shouldn’t kid themselves. Having a 4-1 lead almost definitely changed the way the P-Bruins played. But no matter the reason, he said the Penguins got to their game for the first time in the series in the last two periods. That and the fact that it requires four wins to end a series give the Penguins some optimism heading home, he said.

Then there’s the issue of the goalie change. No one was blaming Jeff Zatkoff for the 12 goals the Penguins gave up in the first four periods of the series. Peters asked how many of them were backdoor tap-ins, and the answer is more than a couple. But the fact remains that Brad Thiessen gave up no goals on 16 shots the rest of the way, and it is a results-driven business when it comes right down to it.

Another chapter in the head shot discussion was also written tonight. Peters knocked Providence defenseman Zach Trotman out with a hit behind the net early in the third period. Like out cold. His visor bounced off the ice when he went down. If he hadn’t been wearing one, it could have easily been a Lars Eller/Kevin Stevens situation.

Consistent with the fact that no penalty was called when Bobby Robins trucked Dylan Reese the night before, no penalty was called on Peters tonight. Here’s what Peters said about the hit.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think he saw me coming at all and wasn’t able to brace himself. As far as my posture, I felt like I was low. I felt I stayed on the ice. It was a hard hit. I’m not out there to hurt anybody. I’m not trying to hurt anybody. Unfortunately, that was the result, but as far as the rules go, it’s definitely unfortunate but I thought I stayed below his shoulders for sure.”

Robins didn’t get suspended for his hit on Reese, so unless there’s something different between the two plays that I couldn’t discern, I wouldn’t expect Peters to be suspended either. Not suspending Robins set a dangerous precedent, and now here we are.

Cody Wild replaced Reese in the lineup and performed well in somewhat limited ice time. Philip Samuelsson left the ice favoring his leg with about two minutes left in the game. If that injury keeps him out for any length of time, Peter Merth, come on down.

Providence is down some defensemen as well, with Matt Bartkowski up, Kevan Miller missing tonight’s game with an injury and the Trotman situation. The war of attrition has begun.

The Penguins are scheduled to resume practice Monday, so expect the next blog update then.

A winner of first-place honors in the blogging category of the 2012 Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors awards, Penguins Insider was created to give local hockey fans an interactive, in-depth way to follow the team they so passionately support. The blog's author, beat writer Jonathan Bombulie, has been covering the team since its inception in 1999. Contact him at jbombulie@aol.com

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